International Environmental Policy - Deforestation

Announcement

  • No filming and recording of class content.

  • Up to 20% mark deduction for violation of TIU Student Code of Conduct.

Assessment

  • Policy Paper: 30%

    • Due May 23, submit on Moodle.

    • 2000 words, excluding citations.

  • Model COP: 30%

    • Practices: May 29, June 2, June 5.

    • Graded: June 19, June 23, June 26, June 30, July 3.

  • In-Class Test: 40%

    • June 16, 90 minutes, both short and long essays.

    • Students are responsible for ensuring their handwriting is readable.

Causes

  • Interpretations of North and South.

  • Debate regarding deforestation.

Definition

  • UNEP Definition: "The removal of forest and undergrowth to increase the surface of arable land or to use the timber for construction or industrial purposes."

The Importance

  • Deforestation and climate change are interconnected.

  • Trees store carbon dioxide.

  • Available amount of waterflow and fresh water.

Direct Causes

  • Agriculture

  • Monoculture farming

  • Cattle ranching

  • Ecological damage

  • Mining

  • Infrastructure

Underlying Causes

  • Growth of population

  • Urbanization

  • Global demand and supply

International Efforts

  • Mitigation, resilience, or adaptation?

  • Any progress?

Tackling the Consequences

  • Environmental

    • Loss of biodiversity

    • Soil erosion

    • Climate change

  • Social

    • Displacement of indigenous communities

    • Loss of livelihoods

  • Economic

    • Reduced ecosystem services

    • Loss of revenue from ecotourism

North

  • Stewardship

  • Intergovernmental Panel on Forests

  • Intergovernmental Forum on Forests

  • World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development

  • Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+)

South

  • Sustainable Forest Management (SFM)

  • Forest Principles (non-legally binding)

  • Common Responsibility

  • G77: Common but Differentiated Responsibility

  • Compensation

Confrontation

  • North

    • Public Good

    • Carbon Sinks

    • Donors’ Interventions

  • South

    • Private Goods

    • Tropical Timber

    • Preserving Sovereignty

Case Study: Brazil

  • Amazon forest fire 2019

  • Around 7,747 sq km7,747 \text{ sq km}

  • More than the size of Singapore or Brunei

  • Less than Puerto Rico (9,104 sq km9,104 \text{ sq km})

  • Brazilian former President Jair Bolsonaro: Using and resorting to these fallacies, certain countries…behaved in a disrespectful manner and with a colonialist spirit…we hold as a most sacred value, our sovereignty

Conclusion

  • Is forest private property or global common?

  • Should global common overwhelm sovereignty?

  • The lens of post-colonialism and its critics?